I have both a contender and a phantom and I'm pretty sure that if I were sailing on the sea off the Western Isles I'd want to be in the phantom until I'd got my helming skills well up to scratch.

There is a lot of room in the cockpit of a phantom whereas a contender offers very little room for the bigger person, especially as you try to get under the boom when tacking. The phantom is a fast, exciting boat but will be more tolerant of rusty sailing skills than the contender, which will happily throw you in at any opportunity.

The prospect of having a good time is important and I would like to develop my skills to incorporate trapeze so the Contender would be a preferred choice however also looking at a Laser 3000 and the Vago as options. Don't mind the prospect of getting wet. May have to wait for the Vago to come down in price a bit.

Out to lunch on the phantom at the moment. Nobody makes reference to any of the Topper boats such as the Topper Topaz Tres. Is that because they are not up to much or is that a class to which I would not fit the bill.

Nobody makes reference to any of the Topper boats such as the Topper Topaz Tres. Is that because they are not up to much or is that a class to which I would not fit the bill.

You'll find few people with kind words to say about the Topaz*. It's really an object lesson in what happens when you set out to make a hull be both an unstayed single sail boat AND a three sail trapeze boat, AND fifteen different combinations in between.

*Theres some of the rest of the range, with different hulls, that are fine. I quite like, for what it is, the Taz.

The laser 3000 is an excellent boat to learn single handed trapezing on - it's pretty stable and easy to step in and out of when trapezing. Also it has a kite to play with and room for a crew if the desire arises. You can get one for under £1000 or spend up to £6000 for a spanking new lightweight one (like mine).

However, it was designed as a double hander and has a jib to contend with and doesn't work terribly well without it. Also, though you can single hand one under class rules, there's no single handed circuit (yet).

The Vago has an active single handed race circuit, but it's a harder boat to single hand being wobblier and having a high freeboard to step out onto. The 3000 is somewhat quicker too.

The Topper Buzz is another single handable double hander, like a 3000 but bigger (much wider & more sail area). Heavy.

As for the topaz .. never really heard anything good about it. Sails too small to be fast, hull too narrow to keep the small sails upright I believe.

In truth, as the man says, no hybrid single / double hander will work quite so well as a designed for purpose single hander - but as no-one makes an "easy" to sail trapeze single handed asymetric with space for the ocassional extra body, I have the V3000.

i would avoid any trapeze boats to start with as you are returning to the sport. the guys who can do make it look easy but you will be much better off reminding yourself of the skils needed in basic sailing of a boat before trying to move into anything more complicated.

As to classes, i would recomend a laser with a rooster 8.1 rig as a budget way back into sailing (and a laser will be easy to sell on again). but if you have more money to spend then a phantom is a very nice boat, lightweight, fast, and can carry weight easilly. The finn equally so but it is another step up money wise for little performance gain, and it is a much heavier boat to move around the dinghy park.

600 732, will call it Sticks and Stones when i get round to it.
Also International 14, 1318

You don't make life easy!! Most concerns expressed relate to the potential situation of running before I walk or a proverb of a similar ilk. I can concur with that and that is where I am debating internally as to whether I should step back before I step forward or as James had indicated sail within the boundaries of the class prior to progressing further. I will keep my ears to the ground or eyes on the screen as everything appears to be internet based these days. Any suggestions?

Can I confirm that the best websites are the class associations, boats and outboards and appollo duck with a smidgeon of boat trader?

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